


kurovlogs

by spells



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, KRTSK Fluff Week 2018, M/M, Prompt Fic, YouTube, Youtuber AU, though i didnt follow the prompt...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 11:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17079560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spells/pseuds/spells
Summary: YouTube knew him a little too well.Alternatively, machines had interconnected AI and were always listening to, watching, all of them, at all times.If not, how can you explain the fact that Kuroo Tetsurou, famous youtuber and best friends with one of Kei's favorite creators, comments under one of his videos the day after Kei thirsts over him to his best friend?





	kurovlogs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kurotsukki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurotsukki/gifts).



> did i follow the prompt? not at all. do i care? NOPE.  
> this one's for lai!! guess who finally wrote the fic!!  
>  **day four:** ~~shopping/gardening | cooking/baking~~ | _playlist_

Before presenting the facts and happenings that very much freaked him out and changed his life, Kei would like to give some context.

(Starting from the assumption that everyone knows what YouTube is, of course. If you don’t, you might as well google it, and where the hell have you been the past few years?)

Anyone can create a YouTube channel, and anyone can upload videos to such channel. After too many hours watching fascinating videos, a lot of frolicking around in an editing software, and several attempts at recording his voiceover, Kei posted his first video.

That was a few months ago, already. Back in February. It was a video essay that he’s still proud of, on the rise of sci-fi in popular media. If he were to do it now, of course, it would be much different and probably a whole lot better, but it was his first video. He still had plenty to learn. It was good enough that it garnered a few thousand views by itself and, now, after a couple dozen more videos, he’s proud of the tight community of subscribers he’s created, still amazed by the four-digit number that somehow never stops growing.

He’s far from a youtuber, from an influencer, or whatever you want to call it. But he loves making videos and loves getting feedback. He would do this forever, if he could.

Kei also loves watching YouTube videos. That’s a given. His collection of subscriptions is curated and small, a selection of high-quality content by people he genuinely admires. He feels like there is a wide variety of genres in it, but he might be wrong – it’s all thought-provoking stuff, for one. Science and essays, analysis humor and sparse puzzle-game solving. For him, that feels like very different things, but he does not watch daily vlogs or pranks, so maybe he is restricted to one nice corner of the internet.

Then, it’s September 26th, Friday evening. Which means a few things – it’s the day before Kei’s eighteenth birthday, it’s his upload day, and Yamaguchi is over.

He sighs, messing with something on his phone that Kei doesn’t know what is, and sure, it all makes him feel a little guilty. For not hanging out with his friend while he’s there, not appreciating his company, or whatever. He doesn’t usually feel like this, because they’ve known each other so long that they don’t make excuses for things anymore, things are either okay or they’re vocal about it. So, it’s weird. Kei wishes his video would just upload already.

Uncomfortable with the silence and the jittery feeling in his stomach, he clicks open a new tab and surfs his YouTube home page for a second, trying to find something new to watch. His pickiness sucks in this, where there are not a lot of new things to find.

“Who’s he?”

Yamaguchi points to the screen, particularly to a thumbnail that screams clickbait and bad content. It’s a prank video that follows all criteria for a ‘successful video’ – youtuber faces, shirtless guy, red arrow, big font.

Kei goes YouTube-red.

“Um. KuroVlogs?”

Nodding, Yamaguchi turns to look at him with one eyebrow slightly raised, and it feels like he can see right through him. If anyone can, it’s him. If he ever can, it’s now – Kei’s let his guard down, unintentionally.

“Just some random channel YouTube keeps recommending me. He’s best friends with Kozume, so that’s probably why.”

That part isn’t questioned – Yamaguchi knows Kozume Kenma is the owner of one of Kei’s favorite YouTube channels. Kei’d been hoping the doubt would end there, and he would be safe, but Yamaguchi is smarter than that. He’s deadly smart, behind his sorry and shy attitude. He’s so much more than a sorry ass, and Kei hates the fact that he himself forgets that sometimes.

“You’ve spent some time filtering what you watch, Tsukki, so that only good things will be recommended to you,” he says, and it’s true. “There’s no way the algorithm just decided to put a bad channel on your home page.”

Kei blinks, swallows.

“You’ve been watching this guy, haven’t you?”

When he looks at Yamaguchi, he’s all wide eyes in surprise, although not shock. Mouth subtly curved into a disbelieving smile. It makes Kei feel ashamed and stupid, as if he’s the sort of person who would fall into a clickbait trap. After all, he hasn’t. Sort of.

Truly, he’s like a deer in the headlights.

“Just a video, something he did with Kozume,” he stutters, trying to pour nonchalance and confidence back into his voice. It’s not enough. Yamaguchi raises his eyebrow again, in confusion and even more doubt, and Kei can’t lie to him. He can’t ever lie to him – it’s Yamaguchi, for fuck’s sake.

“Okay, fine,” he exhales, and clicks the video open. He hopes that’ll show Yamaguchi both how embarrassed he is of having watched that, and why exactly he did.

The screen flickers and the video loads, a plain bedroom background with a guy in front. He’s handsome, dark hair and olive skin, all Vitruvian proportions and bright smiles. If anything, he’s a sight for sore eyes. He grins and waves to the camera.

_“Hey there, folks, fellas and friends! It’s your boy, your man, Kuroo Tetsurou!”_ He speaks like a talk show host, clear and charismatic, and it makes something unsteady inside of Kei. He’d translate the feeling into wanting to slap the smug look off Kuroo’s face, but he knows that’s not quite it. _“If you saw the thumbnail, if you read the title, you know what’s up – y’all have been asking for it, I have been wanting to do it, so I’m gonna prank Bo. Again!”_

A clip from a previous video rolls in, footage of Kuroo taping his roommate’s phone to the ceiling of their apartment and a very confused man stumbling around the house, looking for his phone, while it rings mutely above his head.

_“I asked for suggestions of what to do now, and you all definitely-!”_

Yamaguchi presses the spacebar, and the video pauses. Kei turns to look at him again, a flush high on his own cheeks. “What?”

“I can’t believe you watched this.”

For a second, he stumbles with the words, trying to justify something that doesn’t make sense at all. Then, he settles with admitting the ridiculous truth, “He’s really hot.”

They stand still, for a second. Neither of them talking, just Kei’s face burning and Yamaguchi stunned. Finally, he rolls his eyes, and chuckles. “You’re unbelievable, Tsukki.”

“He is, though. Even your straight ass has to admit that.”

“He’s handsome, sure. But not worth the content.”

“I tune it out,” Kei shrugs, closing the tab and finding that his video’s up, and now he can relax. He closes his laptop and stands up from the bed, stretching for a second before nodding towards the door. “Now c’mon, it’s cramped in here.”

~*~

His family lets him sleep in on the morning of his birthday, and trust Kei when he says he’s endlessly thankful. There’s going to be a birthday party for him come evening, and he is already exhausted for it. Once again, Yamaguchi is a force to be reckoned with when he wants to, and there’s no escaping the celebration.

Initially, he just yawns, stretches, puts on his glasses and all of that. He stares at the ceiling for a while, trying to figure out if he’s feeling older, if he’s feeling eighteen. Eventually, he figures out that no, not at all. He’s just a bit sore, actually. Maybe it really is old age, subtly creeping up on him.

He paws at his nightstand until he finds his phone, and tugs it away from the charger cable that falls to the floor with a quiet noise, metal chattering softly against wooden floorboards. Sighing, sleep still permeated in his skin and brain, Kei fluffs out his pillow and rests his head back on it.

First thing he does is open his new video to check out how it’s going. It’s a video essay mixed with a film review, and the numbers are doing quite well – probably considering it’s about a movie that’s just come out. He uploaded it something over half a day ago, and it’s already got almost four thousand views. That’s a lot, and quick. His subscriber numbers have already grown, too, each day getting closer to ten thousand, and making him more excited. He sits up, and skims through the comments before getting out of bed.

Then, he sees it.

Kei gives the comment a heart without paying much attention to it, just one quick read of the words and instant thankfulness. Only when he clicks to reply, and the commenter’s name pops up where he’s supposed to type, that he actually realizes who wrote that.

First, he’s shocked.

He flinches away from his phone, dropping it on his bed, and frowns. There’s no way, he thinks. Sure enough, he smashes his hand against his face to make sure he is, indeed, wearing his glasses. Yeah, he is. No confusion in that.

Second, he doubts.

As if his phone is a feral animal or a venomous snake, he approaches it slowly, squinting at the screen and acting as if he can’t risk angering the beast. It takes enormous amounts of courage to pick it up again and look at the screen, where it’s all written in pretty black sans serifs, the white background glimmering at him, brighter than any other part of his room.

He wonders if it’s a fake channel – wonders if the verified stamp is a bug – and taps on the name to open up the channel. And there it is, nothing to doubt anymore.

KuroVlogs, verified, 3.412.879 subscribers.

Of course, he doesn’t believe his phone screen.

So, he calls Yamaguchi.

On the third ring, his best friend picks up cheerfully, “Happy birt-!”

“Kuroo Tetsurou watched my video,” Kei says, interrupting him entirely, but also not caring at all. His voice is a little shaky with sheer disbelief, because he is, absolutely, disbelieving.

“What?”

“Kuroo Tetsurou. KuroVlogs. Watched my video, and left a comment.”

“What? Tsukki, are you sure it’s him?”

“Yeah, Yamaguchi, I checked.”

“Hell yeah, congrats, Tsukki! That’s awesome, and a great birthday gift, no? Happy birthday, by the way!”

It takes a second for Kei to snap out of his haze, and sigh. “Thanks, Yamaguchi. You’re coming over for lunch?”

“Yeah, sure thing. See you in a couple hours!”

“See you,” Kei murmurs, still shaky, and pulls the phone away from his face. The screen pops back into brightness, opening right back into the comments section of his video.

_This is amazing in every way! I particularly loved your editing, man. You made a very convincing point, you know, I might actually go out to watch this film~~ ;)) Keep up the good work, Tsukishima~_

~*~

For regular life, and his real-life mates, Kei didn’t have social media accounts. Neither did he have any for his YouTube channel, already too busy with making videos for it and handling school at the same time. He didn’t want the constant hassle of followers, up to every word or post he decided to share, tuned into every moment of his life, capable of always bothering him without anything specific to talk about or act upon.

In November, however, he decides to finally create a Twitter account. He’s at twelve thousand subscribers, more people than he can fathom, and he can’t figure out how. The community, if he can call it that, is still lovely and kind, and a bunch of smart people that he loves hearing from. That’s why he decides it’s fine to start social media, especially if it’s to have more conversations like he’s already having and seeing on the comments of his videos.

He doesn’t miss, however, the moment when Kuroo Tetsurou follows him.

For whatever reason, Kei had already followed him first, and he actually didn’t expect to get a follow back. He’s gotten a couple more comments from him underneath his videos, and they always come with a rush of thankful and giddiness. Always followed by a heart, and a simple thank-you reply that he does not allow himself to exaggerate on.

After the follow, though, he gets something he did not expect. That’s when he’d say his life genuinely changed, things shifting in some new direction.

Kuroo Tetsurou _slides into his DMs._

Nothing’s surprised him more, recently, than the notification he gets when that happens. It’s his first direct message, from his first – if not only, he isn’t sure – mutual follower. He slides it open, and stares at the mostly-white screen for a second, trying to analyze and understand what the fuck is going on.

_Hey, Tsukishima!_

_How’s it going?_

He doesn’t go through the stages again, doesn’t doubt it because there’s the verified mark, and it’s Kuroo’s official account. Of course, he is surprised at the message – he thought he was, at most, a person Kuroo kind of knew existed. Someone whose videos he occasionally watched, when there was nothing else there. Not someone he’d message, for sure.

_hey_ , Kei sends after a lot of hesitation. _i’m fine, you?_

None of it seems real. This guy’s got three million subscribers, for all that’s worth. He’s actually, genuinely famous. He’s someone. Kei is just a teenager making YouTube videos, excited for the day he’ll graduate, making plans for college. He doesn’t live off this. It’s a pastime, even if a very nice one, and one that demands a lot of work and effort and time.

_Quite well~_ , Kuroo replies, with the tilde that Kei guesses is supposed to add playfulness to his words. He isn’t sure whether he exactly achieves that. _Just watched your latest video, good as always!_

Well, at least that does make him blush.

_thanks_ , he types, and locks his phone as soon as it’s sent. There’s something odd inside of him, queasy, jittery, and he doesn’t think it’s justified. To him, it doesn’t seem sensible to be like this because someone sent him a message – is this being starstruck? Because it sucks.

A part of Kei wants to get his phone and keep talking to Kuroo, but he knows it’s weird. He feels weird, at least; unsettled. With a deep sigh, he relaxes his shoulder and leans back on his desk chair, an attempt to calm himself down. When he manages, he opens his laptop and decides to start working on a video – because that’s therapeutic. It’ll help get rid of the buzzing feeling inside his stomach, deep in his gut. He can give Kuroo a response later, when he’s feeling better.

~*~

Once he lets his guard down, talking to Kuroo becomes… fun.

Unlike his videos, Kuroo’s clever and cunning and cool. He’s informed, able to take on arguments with Kei on matters that not many want to discuss. Not just that, but the conversation is comfortable, flowing, and Kei finds himself feeling excited to get on his phone to talk to him. One subject leads to another with ease, so that they might start talking about their days but go to sleep after discussing the scientific roots of the universe.

People notice. Yamaguchi catches onto the fact that Kei’s been spending so much time on his phone doing things unrelated to music, and he always looks at Kei like he’s trying to figure him out. When he finds out what he is actually doing in all that time, he is completely aghast – which makes Kei feel a little guilty, although he doesn’t know why.

“You’ve been talking nonstop with _Kuroo Tetsurou_? KuroVlogs? Really?”

“Yeah.” Kei shrugs, and takes a deep breath. He stabilizes his face, acting as if it’s nothing even though he knows it isn’t.

“The guy who pranked his friend by spreading whipped cream on his floor and walls? That guy?”

“He’s not all like that,” he says, and he knows he’s only digging himself a deeper hole through defending him. What does he know, anyway? He realizes his words were a mistake as soon as Yamaguchi’s eyes go wide, his innocent shock that is profoundly accusing, even if it doesn’t look it.

“Oh? What is he like, Tsukki?”

It’s all or nothing, Kei figures. “He’s nice. Smart. I don’t know, Yamaguchi, he’s just a cool person to talk to. He’s nothing like his videos.”

Yamaguchi still looks at him like he’s spouting nonsense and being stupid. Eventually, however, he just sighs. “You’re probably right. What do I know, anyway?”

He smiles his kind smile, edged on nervousness but sweet and ingenuous. Kei wants to hug him, thank him, because he does not deserve Yamaguchi. At least he knows he’s got him – they’ve got each other.

Not only does he notice, but his subscribers and followers, too. His followers had already seen that he had become mutuals with Kuroo, and the guy’s follow had boosted his subscriber count a bunch. He started running some ideas through him, though, and getting his opinion and occasional research he voluntarily helped with. Of course, Kei credited him for help in the description of his videos, and his subscribers took note.

By the end of December, Kei had surpassed twenty-five thousand followers, his most famous video with almost two hundred thousand hits. He never thought his channel would get this big, especially not this quick. He is impossibly thankful, of course, but he also can’t quite take notice of it.

_Congrats on 25K, Tsukishima!_ , Kuroo sends him on Christmas morning. Kei wakes up late, and finds the messages already there, looking at him on his phone screen.

_And Merry Christmas, of course~_

Settled amidst other Twitter and YouTube notifications, it’s staring at Kuroo’s messages, seeing his profile picture right there – he’s still very hot -, that something occurs to Kei. It takes a bit of courage to write it out and send it to Kuroo, but he’s spurred on by the restless feeling in his stomach, like a fleet of birds, an infinite flapping of wings trapped inside his stomach.

_you too, kuroo. and thanks. but hey, would you want to collab some time?_

~*~

Trust Kei when he says that, even though he had the idea and asked Kuroo to collaborate, he had absolutely no clue regarding what they could do together. They had never met, he didn’t even know if they could, and their content was completely different. He’d never had another person in one of his videos, anyway, so he wasn’t even sure how that would work out.

He felt like screaming _eureka_ when it struck him.

He’s already gotten a yes from Kuroo, so Kei has spent the last couple of days thinking of what they can do together. When he realizes, he’s having breakfast, and he sits upright so suddenly that his mom asks if he’s alright. As soon as he gets his hands on his phone, he opens his chatlog with Kuroo and, for a second, he just stares at their conversation.

Then, he snaps out of it, and starts typing, trying to control his excitement.

_hey, kuroo, do you think you could help me with a video?_

_it’d be the collab! if i could get sort of a statement from you_

Kuroo replies within minutes, and Kei wonders if he does anything of his life. And actually, he knows the answer – a big no.

_Oh, absolutely! What would the video be about?_

Kei takes a deep breath, _fame._

Kuroo types, types, types. The three dots start teasing Kei at some point, and he almost puts his phone down – which means, throw it at a wall -, but there’s finally a message.

_I’ll help you if you agree to make a video for my channel, too~_

_how would we do that? your videos are presential, kuroo_

_Well, you could always come to town, or vice-versa (if you’ll invite me ;) )_

An earthquake takes place inside of Kei, rumbling and shaking him from his core. He’d never really thought of the possibility of meeting Kuroo – famous youtuber, actual influencer, really-hot Kuroo Tetsurou – even after months of being friends. He was always a literal internet personality, someone to talk to online, someone that you can meet on a screen. Never a tangible person. Even if they had talked all that much, he had never become achievable. Always above Kei, in whatever way.

On the other hand, Kei did have some savings, enough to buy a couple of train tickets, and with the beginning of the semester coming soon, he wouldn’t have too many responsibilities on weekends. And anyway, it was Kuroo who suggested it, so it’s fine, right?

There’s still a nuclear explosion of emotions going on inside of him, ricocheting on his inner walls and repeating itself. He still feels like a mess, jumbly and nervous, so different from the image he passes. Kei’s a cool, chill guy, and he doesn’t get heated over these sorts of things.

_okay,_ he finally types. _but pranks are forbidden._

_A bummer, but okay, whatever you say, boss~~_

Kei goes red, and wonders if he’s ever going to get past the starstruck feeling that controls him, shaking him to the tips of his fingers.

~*~

The train ride is very stressful. Public transport usually calms him, because it’s time he can spend by himself, listening to music and thinking. The prospect of meeting Kuroo as soon as he arrives, however, is enough to freak him out and keep his mind busy with negative thinking the whole way.

He messes with his phone as the train rushes by crops and crops, miles going by faster than he expected them to. At least he has something to check out, since just yesterday he uploaded the collab video he made for his channel, a longer-than-usual video essay with a statement from Kuroo, an analysis on human behavior, and excerpts from books. If he hadn’t had his friend’s help for this one, it would have taken forever, but he was just in the right spot to make it.

It has been doing outstanding, surpassing any expectations and doing better than any other video he’s posted in the almost-year of his channel. It was posted less than a day ago, and it’s already got almost two hundred thousand views, with hundreds of comments and thousands – _thousands_ – of likes. This is more than he’d ever expected, truly. His subscriber count is rising, too, and fast, so much so that he can just watch the numbers climb up, beyond his comprehension.

Kuroo has even messaged him about it, as proof of how much things are going his way. Of course, Kuroo would text him sooner or later because they’re going to meet soon, but still.

_Our video’s doing incredible, man! Can’t wait to film another one today :D_

Kei cringes a little at his use of “:D”, but it’s still cute. He still feels like he’s about to crumble, giddy and excited, and he just hopes meeting Kuroo will do the deal for him and alleviate him of that feeling.

When he drops off at the station, it’s barely noon, but it’s still extremely cold. He can’t even imagine what coming back home will be like at night, but he prefers to let that come in its proper time – he can’t bear to remember the weather forecast, and still hopes it’s incorrect. Now, he just has to find Kuroo and go film their collab before he has to go back home.

As soon as he notices a small gathering of teenage girls, he knows where he has to head.

Kuroo’s way taller than any of them, so his head still reigns above the crowd, and he sees Kei as he approaches. He grins, but not the warm, welcoming smile that is part of his intro. It’s more mischievous, smart, and it makes every organ in Kei’s body spasm and flip. He tells himself that it’s just Kuroo, it’s his friend, it’s just another person – but the feeling doesn’t go away.

“Tsukishima! Nice to finally meet you,” Kuroo says, ignoring the teenagers, who all turn back to see who he’s talking to.

“Hi, Kuroo,” he responds, trying to will his face into not flushing. He’s not sure whether he manages, but the embarrassment is still there.

“We should head to mine. We’ve only got until evening, right?”

“Um, yeah. Right.”

“Well, then, come with me, Tsukishima.”

Up close, and in real life, Kuroo is… Different to his screen-self, even if the same. He is a lot more handsome, when you’ve got the whole thing to admire. He looks his age, fresh and twenty, tall and fit. His clothes compliment him, too, nice-fitting and dark, making him look like a whole celebrity – which he is, in a way. But in real life, he doesn’t look like a fool who lives off clickbait. Kuroo looks smart, and you can tell he’s smug about it – the way he tilts his head, smiles, and licks his lips. For some reason, it only makes him more attractive.

He opens the door for Kei when their Uber arrives. Kei figures he might as well be a strawberry.

When they get to Kuroo’s apartment, Kei finally wonders who the _hell_ this guy is.

Of course, it’s not huge or a mansion or anything – he lives off YouTube money, and with only another youtuber, anyway -, but it’s quite nice. It’s minimalistic in décor, stark yellow and red accents on the black-and-white everything. Even if it might not be, it looks expensive, looks fancy. Kei’s awestruck for a moment, staring around every room he enters like a fool.

Kuroo just watches, lets him stare in wonder at his apartment. When they get to his room, the tour’s over, and he waves over to the bed.

“That’s where we’d film. That’s where I film my sit-down videos, anyway.”

“What are we going to do?” Kei asks, turning to him but not sitting yet. Kuroo smirks and pulls out his phone, looking something like hopeful, and eventually turns his phone for Kei to see.

He’s pulled up a tweet, from his own account, asking for dares for a video. “Truth or dare. Is that okay?”

“Will there be any truths?”

“Well…” Kuroo chuckles, and Tsukishima stares at him in shock, turning his gaze completely serious. At that, Kuroo raises his hands, as if he’s been caught, “I’m kidding, there will. Three truths, three dares, what do you say?”

Kei feels weird. He feels weird, because it’s the first time they meet, and he’s usually cold and awful to stranger – then why is it so nice and light to be hanging out with Kuroo? Why is it like hanging out with an old friend, comfortable and fun, entertaining? They can just joke around, talk in light banter with no stress or awkward silences, just like when they’re messaging each other. Why is it so comfortable? Kei doesn’t think it should be this pleasant. There should be at least some awkwardness, even past the initial moments.

“That’s cool.”

He sits down on the bed, and it feels a little too intimate. A little odd, as if he shouldn’t be there. The mattress is soft and sinks beneath him, although not too much. Kuroo raises one eyebrow, still standing. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” Kei nods, albeit slowly. He looks up at Kuroo, whose eyes are mesmerizing up close, but doesn’t let himself get distracted.

“I’ll set up the camera, then. You can make yourself comfortable.”

Kuroo starts putting up the tripod and the camera, the softboxes and the microphone. Everything also looks very fancy and expensive, far from anything Kei would ever use – not only because he doesn’t show his face in his videos, but because he probably wouldn’t have the money to put into it. Nor would he know all of that is necessary, although he doesn’t seem to have any over-the-top equipment.

It’s quicker to set up than Kei expected, and soon enough, Kuroo’s joining him on the bed. He’s already smiling, his camera smile, and he directs it at Kei. “You ready?”

“’Think so,” Kei nods, uncapable of ignoring not only the nervousness in his gut but that same starstruck feeling. Kuroo’s eyes are distracting, like liquid iron, a glowing golden with specks of dark. He’s extremely handsome, to a bothersome extent. Kei makes a mental reminder to control himself, act professional, or whatever.

Kuroo leans towards the camera and presses a button, then sits back on the bed. He starts his intro all of a sudden, his back straightening and his smile widening, like he’s just gotten in character. Kei knows the words, but he can’t help but watch in fascination as Kuroo speaks, “Hey there, folks, fellas and friends! It’s your boy, your man, Kuroo Tetsurou! For today’s video, I brought a very special guest, my new friend-”

He turns to him, and finds Kei staring. That’s when Kei becomes self-conscious of what he’s doing, and blushes deeply. Kuroo chuckles, and tilts his head. When neither of them says anything, Kuroo fully laughs.

“Everything okay, Tsukishima?”

“Yeah, y-yeah,” he nods, gaining confidence in himself as he speaks. Or at least, pretending to. “Sorry. Got distracted.”

“I know I’m stunning, but you don’t have to be stunned, Tsukishima dear,” Kuroo smirks, and Kei stuffs his face into his hands.

“You didn’t,” he mumbles, muffled.

Kuroo laughs, and slaps Kei’s back lightly. “Sorry. Now come on, get yourself together, let’s film.”

After that, they manage to get a proper take of the intro, even if Kei is endlessly awkward talking in front of the camera. They try once again, Kuroo doing his best and exaggerating his puns to loosen him up, make sure he’s more relaxed. It works, and once the game actually starts, things go great.

The truths they ask each other are just stupid things, not deep at all, mostly fillers between one dare and another. Kuroo eats soap and uses peanut butter as hair gel, while he leaves milder challenges for Kei to fulfill, like screaming ridiculous things out the window and eating flour.

Kuroo’s just answered what countries he would most love to visit, and Kei chooses dare, as they’ve arranged. He gets a bad feeling, though, when Kuroo grins sneakily after he finds something on his phone.

“What,” Kei says, voice dropping cold and monotone, sort of hiding how scared he is of what’s coming.

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” Kuroo says first, face serious and stern all of a sudden. Then, the childish naughtiness comes back. “Twitter user softkuroos dares you to kiss me.”

Kei freezes, externally, but his body does its own reaction. His stomach squishes and stretches, spasming, and his heart races – he can feel it in his throat, beating quick and hard. Fire encompasses his face, burning bright red, and he realizes he hasn’t been starstruck all this time. Stupid, he knows, but it was possible.

He doesn’t know how much time passes between the moment Kuroo finishes talking and the moment he finally snaps out of it to give him an answer, but it feels like forever. Eventually, finally, he shakes his head and blinks, and Kuroo is still looking at him, innocently, waiting for an answer.

It takes all the courage that Kei has to nod, slowly, hesitantly. Kuroo smiles in understanding, and slides closer on the bed, making Kei feel more embarrassed and burst into a quick fit of giggles, his forehead resting on Kuroo’s shoulder just to hide his face.

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna push you into this, Tsuki-”

Kei looks up, and instead of being normal and looking at Kuroo in the eye, he lets his gaze fall on his lips first. Stupid, and cliché, but it’s also not like it was intentional. When he realizes what he’s done, he looks up and tries to meet Kuroo’s eyes, but Kuroo’s looking at his lips, also. And while it makes him embarrassed as all hell, he can’t say he minds. Slowly, carefully, Kuroo cups Kei’s jaw, and his hand is soft and warm.

Kuroo’s a pretty good kisser, he finds out.

It also feels like forever, because Kei doesn’t know how long they kiss for. Probably because they don’t just kiss, and be aware of his embarrassment about this, they make out. Eventually, Kuroo reaches out and turns the camera off, but they just go right back to where they were and continue their business. This might not be what Kei had been planning for his trip, but he definitely does not mind.

After some time – Kei has no idea of how much -, they stop, and pull away. Kuroo grins, and Kei rests his face on the crook of his neck, warm and pleasant. For a moment, they stay silent, but it occurs to Kei that the camera filmed quite a bunch of what they just did.

“Please cut that out,” he mumbles, and Kuroo chuckles, running his hand up and down Kei’s back.

He kisses the top of his head, “Okay, no worries.”

~*~

When Kuroo posts their truth or dare video, Kei’s subscriber count doubles over the course of two days. He did cut the entire kiss dare out of it, which makes Kei endlessly thankful, because he is not up for making their relationship public, or at least not yet.

They go out for a few months before they do that, and when they do, Kei’s followers go from almost ten thousand to over fifty thousand.

A few days after his first trip, to film the first video, Kei tells Yamaguchi. And while he barely believes it, all wide eyes and gaping mouth, he eventually accepts it.

“He’s really more than his videos, huh?” He says, chuckling lightly.

Kei nods, totally confident in his words, and even smiles. “Yeah. He is.”

When they graduate, Kei and Yamaguchi move to the city, into a nice but inexpensive apartment that just _happens_ to be a few blocks down from Kuroo and Bokuto’s place.

Kei meets all of Kuroo’s friends, YouTube and not, and they’re all much nicer than he’d expected. He meets Kozume, and almost dies.

Kuroo meets Yamaguchi, who seems to scrutinize him all the way. It’s extremely funny, and Kei thinks he’s never had to hold in so much laughter.

Kei goes to college, still not one for the YouTube fame. He respects Kuroo for living from it, but it’s still not what he wants to do. And they’re both happy – alone and with each other. They go through life and relationship bumps together, fending for each other and standing by each other’s sides no matter what. They’re all the unlikeliness of a modern-day relationship, all the lovely parts and all the scary ones.

Who would think that a comment could change your life?

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/karasunya)
> 
> this!!!!!! i wuv this. my teeny tiny baby. i have to say that, besides talking to lai, what ignited the fire for this fic within me was [this](https://fanfiction.com.br/historia/679436/Fangirl-ily), from my baby fanfic days. i hope y'all liked this though! kudos, comments, bookmarks, screaming, etc.. you know the drill. see you tomorrow!


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